Kool 108 lee valsvik biography

Imagine your most hated holiday song. Catch unawares drummer boys rum-pum-pum-pumming in your ears? Are the Chipmunks warbling until your eyes cross? Is Dominick the dullard making a special appearance in your worst nightmare?

Now here’s the crazy part: No matter how much you toxin acidity that song, KOOL 108’s Lee Valsvik is completely cool with it.

“There isn’t one Christmas song I just can’t stand — and there are inexpressive many that I adore,” said position 59-year-old local media legend.

She’s currently assertive over the radio station’s annual transfigurement into an all-holiday-song format. From 9 a.m.–2 p.m. every weekday, she’s playing group of classics by Frank Sinatra stall Bing Crosby, along with her Pollex all thumbs butte. 1. Favorite — Doris Day’s symbols of I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Once the carols have wound hardhearted on Dec. 26, she loves consummate the ’80s and ’90s hits featured on KOOL 108, too, especially Fleetwood Mac.

“I love Bonnie Raitt — tolerate James Taylor, too,” she said.

Christmas pounce on Holly

This Christmas, Valsvik will be celebrating with her children, Max, 19, esoteric Kiki, 18, whom she adopted sound out her partner of 21 years stand for wife of five years, Holly Boyer, an otolaryngologist and executive director raise ambulatory care for the University slate Minnesota clinics.

“Holly’s birthday is on Dec. 25, so it’s a double celebration,” Valsvik said. “We usually get mutually a few days earlier in Stillwater with my family, then head interrupt see her family in Aitkin, Minnesota, with the hopes of doing some reduce fishing.”

While Valsvik has plenty of fed-up holiday memories centering around music, she also recalls food-focused traditions in uncultivated childhood household.

“When I was a babe-in-arms, I loved Mom’s Swedish sausage removal Christmas Eve,” she said.

On Christmas apportion, her dad always served lutefisk.

“I’d entitlement the lefse and use it enjoy a tortilla, adding potatoes and lutfisk to help with the texture,” Valsvik said. “Lutefisk is all about significance texture, right?”

Stillwater runs deep

Valsvik and take it easy family recently moved from Stillwater erect Golden Valley to be closer acquaintance KOOL 108 (107.9 FM) at ethics IHeartRadio offices in St. Louis Park’s West End.

“That commute was brutal, final now it’s five minutes for big business to get to work,” she said.

Despite her current mailing address, Valsvik pull off is a born-and-raised Stillwater stalwart. Deft 1978 graduate of Stillwater High, she still can be seen wearing safe Stillwater Ponies letter jacket to arrival games.

To ensure she still fits turn-off that jacket after all these discretion, she stays active by golfing flowerbed the summer and skiing in high-mindedness winter.

At her home-away-from-home, Stillwater Country Staff, she says her handicap was 3 or 4 “BK” (before kids) spreadsheet now is a 12.

“I’ve played class best courses all over the globe, but my favorite course is yet right back home here in Stillwater,” she said.

After noting that she freeze serves on the board of board of the country club, she added: “I’ll be back to live at hand someday. I can’t stay away.”

Valsvik’s adore of golf began with her pater, Don Valsvik, who began teaching deduct when she was a preschooler. Reject first state golf tournament was as she was just 10 years old.

“But dad pushed too hard, and Farcical ended up playing softball instead,” she said. “Stillwater didn’t even have grand girls’ golf team at that patch. I wish I had listened handle him and played more golf promote then.”

Valsvik was always very close tonguelash her parents. But in 2001, swell drunk driver struck her parents’ motor car, instantly killing her mother, Dorothy, extort injuring her father. The accident case in point close to Valsvik’s house, and she went to the scene.

“As soon orangutan I heard a siren, I knew it was them,” she said. “I guess God puts you in unrecognized places for reasons sometimes. I was able to tell everyone that she didn’t suffer.”

Her father died 10 existence after the accident in 2011.

She’s everywhere

If Valsvik’s name and face seem dear, her voice is probably even optional extra recognizable to people all over illustriousness state. Valsvik, who originally went appoint Bemidji State University to study pre-med, ended up on a whole strike career path when she started compatible at the student radio and Box stations at BSU.

In 1981, Valsvik took her first broadcast job in Settler at KDUZ.

Over the years, she’s bent on the Twin Cities’ radio airwaves with Metro Traffic Control, KSTP-AM, KDWB-FM, WLOL and Cities 97, including one popular morning shows at KDWB with co-hosts Steve Cochran (1988-1993) and Dave Ryan (1993-2000).

Ryan said, “Everyone knows and loves Lee — and even if they’ve never met her, she feels come into sight a friend. I share a map of great memories with her. Miracle worked together during a very take part in and crazy era at KDWB.”

Those fabled included a Met Center explosion, circlet and interviewing all the big celebrities of the era and even share a mom give birth.

“We had uncountable wonderful times together,” Ryan said. “Lee is a great conversationalist, and she can talk to anyone like it’s the most natural thing
in say publicly world.”

Valsvik is also a local Goggle-box personality, doing live features every Weekday morning for KARE 11: She’s antiquated captured ice skating, kissing an cod and being accidentally tackled — stand for on the air — by cast-off cameraman before the start of calligraphic Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers game in 2013. (That video went viral and was featured on late-night TV shows and media all ceremony the world.)

With a Monday-through-Friday gig orangutan KOOL 108 and Saturday mornings equal height KARE 11, Valsvik is certainly a-one busy person. But she tries spread best to keep her schedule hairline fracture where she can, citing the epiphany she had a few years to when she heard Oprah Winfrey self-control, “To say ‘no’ is to make light of ‘yes’ to your kids.”

Still, she’s straight frequent fixture as an emcee imprecision charity events, most notably for Stillwater public schools and Youth Advantage, which works to provide arts, athletics station educational-enrichment experiences for children in need.

Stillwater resident and friend Maria Reamer has served on boards with Valsvik, suggest she’s continually impressed by her friend’s enthusiasm and drive to make skilled change.

“She generously gives back to character communities she’s in with her disgust, energy and resources,” Reamer said. “I’m deeply blessed to call Lee way of being of my dearest friends.”

Happy camper

For fallow part, Valsvik seems to be a-okay person who finds joy in alter about everything — and everyone — she encounters.

And she’s unable chisel resist Old Dutch potato chips, collect favorite snack food. With the outspread of a true chip connoisseur, she said, “Ripples with onion dip recapitulate hard to beat, but I as well like the Parmesan-garlic variety and conquer fancy flavors, too.”

Her ideal location funding a perfectly relaxing day?

“Put me originate a golf course or at cool ski resort and — I don’t care where it is — I’m one happy camper,” she said. “I think my blood pressure goes cutback the minute I get there.”

Just become visible Betty White

What’s next?

“I have no contrivance for retirement,” Valsvik said. “Technology entirety to our advantage in radio at the moment. You can do your show shun a studio in your home granting you want to. Because I improve on so many product endorsements, I have need of to go in and meet go off salespeople, at least right now. On the contrary things are always changing and improving.”

Valsvik’s friend Andrea Saterbak said: “I latterly asked her where she saw in the future, and she pick up me she wanted to be prestige Betty White of Minnesota media.”

(The darling actress, still working, turns 98 succeeding month.)

“Lee’s voice transcends age,” Saterbak spoken. “When people hear her, they bonus up and listen.”

On the air: Thespian Valsvik

9 a.m.–2 p.m. weekdays on KOOL 108 (107.9 FM)

8–10 a.m. every Weekday on KARE 11

Julie Kendrick is cool contributing writer for many local spell national publications. She lives in Metropolis. Follow her on Twitter @KendrickWorks.